


Before the Stars Align

by Lordxana0



Category: LOVECRAFT H. P. - Works, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:20:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23256091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lordxana0/pseuds/Lordxana0
Summary: Izuku Midoriya was destined to lead a life of little importance, before one fateful day. Now the very stars will watch his life as he tries to uphold himself in a whole new world of blood and chaos, where nightmares are the least of his concerns. But if the goddess he has contracted himself too doesn't destroy him first, there is still a chance for him to become a hero.
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Toga Himiko
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

Before I met him the only thing that really set Izuku Midoriya apart from the rest of the people in the world was the fact that he was an ordinary person in an extraordinary world. A world where almost every person living had some sort of unique or special power known as a Quirk. Except for him that is, the short straw in the hand of fate. Who's to say what his life would have been without me, a boring day to day without much interest, or a short plunge off a tall building to keep the despair away?

But we did meet, and from there so much has happened. The War in Heaven (which I will argue to this day I didn't cause), the Bloodmist rebellion (which I very much did cause), and the Tilt that Broke the Stars. But the most important in my eyes was the Midnight Cult Massacre, because that was our first meeting.

Who am I?

Himiko Toga, avatar of the Unnamed Blood Goddess, last of my kind, and of course the one who granted Izuku Midoriya the power to change the world.

* * *

Izuku Midoriya woke up with his hands bound behind his back with a metal chain, blindfolded, and with the distinct taste of copper in his mouth, along with no memory of how he had gotten in this situation. Trying to think was difficult through the fog of pain radiating through his mind, which probably meant he had suffered some sort of head injury. "Hello?" he asked weakly into the darkness, not sure what kind of response he was hoping for.

"Oh good, you're not dead," a feminine voice said from somewhere in the room, sounding almost peaceful. "I was worried when you didn't answer anything I said after they brought you in that they had just dumped a dead body in here with me."

Izuku was in two minds, part relief that someone had answered him, and part terror due to the possibility of her being one of the people who had put him in this situation to begin with. "What's going on?" he finally managed to ask, struggling against the bindings that kept his arms pulled behind his back.

"Don't know, a bunch of weird guys in masks grabbed me when I was…" the voice paused for a moment. "Walking home, anyway next thing I know I'm all tied up in this room. Super uncool right?"

"I can't really argue with you there," if he had noticed the pause Izuku didn't bother mentioning it, trying to figure out what was going on. A group of masked people knocking people out and dragging them away didn't really make sense for the common villain group, what few existed after All Might had gotten done with sweeping up the crime in Japan. Human trafficking made sense in a certain way, but most people were taken because of their quirks or looks, and he was quirkless and even without that fact he had numerous experiences with the fact that he wasn't handsome enough to be popular in that way. Beyond th-

"You do realize you're saying all of that outloud don't you?" The girl asked quizzically, seemingly trying to figure out if at some point she was supposed to respond.

Izuku felt his face turn red as his usual bad habit flared up, then again he was under plenty of stress at the moment. "Sorry, I'm just…"

"A little scared out of your mind because you're tied to a wall and all chained up?" the girl finished, and Izuku could practically hear the smile on her face. "By the way, my name is Himiko Toga, seeing as we are probably going to be kidnap buddies for awhile you can just call me Himiko if you want."

"Izuku Midoriya, uh, you can do the same if you want." he had never had a girl use his first name except for his mom. That and most of the girls had picked up Bakugou's nickname for him, so there was always that.

"Izuku," the Toga said the name as if she were testing it out on her tongue, but a small click rang out in the presumably small room. "Nah, lets see...Izu-kun, there we go, much better."

Izuku felt his breath catch in his throat, it was the first time someone had given him a nickname without the direct intention of insulting him. "So uh," he was floundering for topics to discuss, he had never exactly had a vibrant social life so idle talking wasn't something he had ever had to think of. "Do you have a favorite hero?" he finally decided on. Heroes were a safe topic, and one he could at least speak on with his brain at half its usual speed.

"Probably Vlad King," the answer was near instant and quick for one of the lesser known heroes in Japan. Not that he wasn't popular in his own circles but Vlad King was always more of an indie hero with a clean history of work. "And Mr. Stai-uh, that is to say," she floundered in her speech for a moment.

Thankfully Izuku knew more than enough about a slip of the tongue then to let her hang on the hook. "Not a lot of people know about Mr. King since he started working at U.A., I really liked his battle against the Twin Terrors."

"Oh I remember that one," Toga replied excitedly. "He ended up using his super move to pin both of them at the same time, he passed out right afterward right?"

Izuku felt a smile come to his face despite the situation they were both in, it was rare to meet anyone who got as excited about hero fights as he did. Well it wasn't totally unusual but at the very least he hadn't exactly been the kind of kid that people talked to about cool events. "He ended up using most of the blood in his body, even though his quirk normally stops the negative effects there was still a threshold for him."

"I always thought it was just the injuries he took, isn't Mr. King's Quirk supposed to stop him from feeling the effects of losing so much blood?" Toga asked, honestly interested in the information.

"Normally yes, but if you compare it to a lot of other fights that have been recorded he starts to slow down after losing a certain amount. It isn't on the level of a normal person losing that much blood but it's still noticeable if you've watched enough of his work." Izuku had always been fascinated by quirks that used a bodily resource to function, from Bakugou to Vlad King there was always some interesting factor that allowed them to work.

"You've got an eye for observation," Toga's voice was gently teasing, but she still sounded honestly impressed by him picking out such a minor detail. "So what hero ranks highest for you then?"

Izuku laughed a bit, his mind taken off of the situation despite his inability to see anything. It had been way too long since he had last had the time to just talk to someone. "All Might."

"Oh boo Izu-kun, everyone has All Might for a favorite hero, that's like saying your favorite type of ice cream is 'cold and made of milk'." she kept her teasing voice, seemingly just ribbing him for fun.

Izuku felt his cheeks turn red, not used to just honest banter. "I know but, he is the one hero who has the largest track record, and how he manages to save everyone. It's just…" it's what I want to be, those were the words that he couldn't say. His dream to be a hero had already been wounded after Bakugou had ruined his notebook earlier that day and tossed it for the fish to snack on.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have made fun of it, All Might is super cool after all," Toga's voice was honestly apologetic, able to pick up the fact she had probably hurt the boys feelings.

The two continued to chat for quite some time, mostly minor things like foods they enjoyed or where they grew up, until the sound of a heavy metal door being pushed open broke their otherwise quiet room.

"Good, our last two sacrafices are prepared then," a gruff older voice dominated the room as the other steps rang out on the ground, the chains around Izuku and Toga being unlocked one after the other, hauled up to their feet by strong hands. Given that they had been injured and locked in place for hours neither had the strength in their limbs necessary to fight back, instead being dragged along.

"Why are you doing this?" Izuku managed to force out, weakly pulling against the hands that were carrying him.

"For the ascendance of our goddess into this world, your blood will pave the way to her great work." the older man's voice was in a state of near ecstasy as he explained to the two. "You should feel quite honored, you will be the stepping stones that brings her power to this world."

Izuku heard a sigh escape from Toga's mouth, an obvious sign of annoyance. "Well it looks like we were captured by a bunch of crazy people, what bad luck right Izu-kun?" a mocking laugh escaped her lips.

"Don't you dare speak as if you know who we are!" a second voice rang out away from Izuku, most likely the man who was dragging Toga along.

Another laugh escaped Toga, as if she had been told a particularly humorous thing. "You know guys who can only say violent things but need to tie a girl up first are uncool as it gets."

"You little bitch," there was the sound of movement followed by a scream from the man. "She, she bit my fucking fingers."

Although Izuku couldn't see the situation he could hear just fine, but what was going on was still a mystery to him. The sound of liquid rang out, and then the person carrying him suddenly let go, followed by a sound of pain and a body striking against a wall.

"Told you, totally uncool," the voice of the man who had been holding Toga came out, but it sounded wrong, much more playful than before. "So what about you old man, think you are brave enough to fight a girl?"

"Oh dear, I do so abhor violence for the sake of it," the older voice replied almost calmly to the situation. "But if you so insist, I invoke her name and power, % #$ !#$^#."

The man spoke and Izuku's mind was suddenly filled with static, his body violently recoiling as his mind was forced to process the words the man had spoken. Izuku's body wretched and he couldn't help losing what was left of his lunch on the ground, his entire body spasming again and again. During these violent shakes the blindfold had come loose, allowing him to finally see the situation.

The older man who had spoken was quite short and bald, wearing an odd red robe that seemed much too large for his frail body. One of his hands was raised in a strange gesture, near skeletal fingers illuminated by a violent red glow. The only other things in Izuku's sight was a man nursing a bleeding hand, fingers bent at an odd angle, and Toga covered by a strange jelly-like fluid on her body but not wearing anything else. Had he the presence of mind to think of it Izuku would have been embarrassed about this, but he was too busy being assaulted by whatever odd power the man was using.

"Those blessed by quirks often have a variety of interesting abilities, but compared to the ancient rites you are nothing more then particularly troublesome insects." the older man lowered his hand down into a fist and motioned toward the two men on the ground. "The others are waiting, back to your duties."

As the odd glow disappeared Izuku was able to pull back to himself for the first time since he had been struck by that odd power, dry heaving with the state of his own sickness still heavy in his mouth. The man who had held Toga walked over and kicked her in the back, an angry look set in his eyes. "Leave her alone!" Izuku managed to shout through his own pain, being kicked in the back for his troubles.

"Enough, the sacrifices are not to be broken before the ritual begins," the old man started moving again, and Izuku and Toga were picked up and dragged along.

Toga coughed and shuddered, obviously in pain from both whatever the older man had done and the violent kick from their captor. "Well, it was worth a shot." she tried to put on a smile for Izuku, but both could tell just how much trouble they were in.

Finally the group entered into a large room with a raised stage, a group of people stood below, looking up to three others that had been chained to the stage in a sitting position. In front of one an odd stone bowl that hurt Izuku to look at sat. As they were brought up to the stage the crowd cheered, all dressed in the same odd robes the older man was clothed in.

Izuku and Toga were both forced to their knees and chains sprung to life around them, circling them like snakes until they were both bound tightly without a chance of escape. The two men who had carried them there stepped down among the crowd, and the older man stepped forward, raising his arms. "Those of the Church of True Blood, rejoice for the day we have waited for it now upon us!" the crowd cheered at the man's declaration, swept up in excitement. "Through the use of these vessels we will call upon the goddess and she will make all our desires come true!"

The crowd began to chant in an old language, their voices unified as one as the old man reached into his robes and pulled forth a dagger with a black stone blade. "In the name of the goddess I give our first sacrifice!" the old man went to the first person in line, holding the blade to their neck and dragging it across their neck. Blood pooled from the person's neck and down into the bowl beneath, which glowed a deep crimson with each drop fallen within.

Izuku couldn't help but scream, and the four remaining on the stage struggled against their bonds with renewed vigor, but despite their efforts the chains were too tight and strong for any of them.

Once the majority of the blood had spilled from the first person the old man picked up the bowl and brought it to the second, placing it underneath them and ignoring their pleas. "In the name of the goddess I give our second sacrifice!" in much the same way he drew the blade across their necks, a sick cutting sound ringing out in the small space.

The process repeated for the third, until the bowl was replaced beneath Toga, her neck perfectly hanging over it. Despite the impending doom however Toga appeared to be remarkably calm, turning her head to look at Izuku with a small smile. "Well, at least I'm first," she looked down at the bowl. "I don't think your blood would be fun to see, Izu-kun."

And with that said the old man sliced her neck and let blood fall into the bowl, which from this position Izuku could see seemingly never filled despite all that was being poured into it.

For his part Izuku's mind simply snapped, screaming with all of the strength his lungs had.

' **If only I was stronger. If only I had some kind of power. If only I could save them. I would have given anything'** Those were the thoughts in the young man's mind.

_Is that your wish?_

Izuku opened his eyes, but couldn't see what had made that noise, who had asked him that.

_You don't have much time left, if that is your wish you have to be willing to pay the price for it._

The voice was feminie, but contained something else, something that Izuku couldn't understand as he listened. Static danced in his mind just like it had when the old man had spoken. Maybe this was insanity, or some kind of trick. But Izuku was beyond caring at this point, seeing the bowl being placed under him and the old man beginning his chant.

"Anything, please I'd give anything!" Izuku screamed aloud, drawing the attention of the crowd beneath.

The old man looked down at him in annoyance, but a sudden gasp from the crowd drew his attention, eyes tracking to Toga's lifeless form only to grow wide as he observed the impossible.

The blood within the bowl began to rise up, much more than could be contained in the small vessel by any logical sense and moved through the air like a serpent, finding its way to Toga's neck and pushing its way through the cut. What remained in the other victims' bodies began to be pulled out, drying out the already dead bodies to add to the expansive pool flowing into the girl.

The chains around Toga snapped as her body rose back to her feet, eyes opening to reveal a heated crimson glow, looking around the room. "Your wish is granted." Toga's voice was odd as it escaped her mouth, a thrill of power contained by every word.

The old man fell to his knees in reverence as he looked upon Toga's form. "Our goddess has come to us, kneel your heads in reverence!" the group off the stage fell to their knees, their voices lavishing praise upon the young woman.

"I see, quite small but it has been a number of years hasn't it?" Toga stepped forward and leaned over, cupping the old man's face. "Rise up, oh priest of mine."

The old man hurried to his feet, still keeping his eyes away from her. "We are humbled that you have responded to our sacrifice."

"Of course I did," Toga lifted a hand toward the crowd as she looked at the older man. "Such an insult can't be denied a proper answer after all can it?" her fingers shimmered for a moment, taking on an almost liquid like form of red before rushing out, spears of crimson piercing the crowd below, more spears expanding from the five initially launched from her fingers like branches from a tree, spearing through their bodies and holding them in place.

Before the old man could respond her other hand pierced through his chest as easily as one might punch through paper digging around inside of him. "The murder of innocent people in my name? Has so much been lost that you thought such a display would please me?!" Toga seemed to finally find what she was looking for, grasping tightly inside of his chest with a manic grin on her face.

"W-why?" the older man croaked. "My family has passed on the secrets, five must be…"

"Four, brought willingly to the altar to invoke me, to grant a boon to the worthy. Four useless sacrifices in my name. I'd laugh but its too stupid to be funny." the branching spears from Toga's fingers retracted from those beneath, their bodies falling bonelessly to the floor as her fingers took back their physical shape. "It's true, your blood contains the history of those who followed me once, but if you are their spawn I retract that from you without a single moment," she finally pulled back, ripping the mans beating heart from his chest, still connected to his body by numerous fleshy tubes.

The chains around Izuku fell around him suddenly, and something pushed him to his feet. Terror was contained through every inch of his body, yet he couldn't help but walk over to Toga with a few slow movements.

She turned her eyes to him, a warm grin on her face. "Despite all you have seen, your own life on the line, your last regret was not having the power to save others." Toga raised the heart over her head and crushed it, moving so that the blood was caught in her mouth and face. "You are worthy of my grace." With that said she pulled Izuku close and kissed him, forcing his mouth open with her own and letting the blood within spill into him.

Izuku didn't have time to scream, instead his body pressed instinctively against hers, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. A deep moan somehow escaped from him. But then the blood that hit his stomach began to burn, his vision went crimson as Toga pulled away from the kiss, a Cheshire like grin on her face as she watched him.

"Oh Izu-kun," she lovingly brushed his face with her hands. "You are going to make such a grand priest for me."

And those were the last words he heard before darkness claimed his mind and he fell unconscious.

* * *

When Izuku woke up, there were bright lights and the smell of disinfectant, and after a quick glance at his surroundings it appeared that he was in a hospital room. A private one as well, which seemed a bit out of the price range for his family. In fact the room was luxours enough to be a small suite, the bed being softer then his own. His arm was attached to an I.V. and a lot of monitoring equipment, and when he touched his head there was a bandage around it.

"Was...it all a dream?" he questioned himself before a small noise caught his attention, looking to the other side of his bed before feeling his eyes widen in shock.

Toga was sitting in a small chair next to the bed, her lead laying on her arm and one outstretched to rest on his leg, looking exhausted and snoring quietly under her breath. But Izuku's words seemed to wake her, eyes opening slightly as she smiled at him. "Oh Izu-kun you're awake, that's perfect." her voice was practically giddy despite the situation, leaving Izuku only more confused.

Before he could properly ask any questions however the door to the room opened. "I brought some snacks to help tide us o-" Inko Midoriya froze in the doorway as she caught her son having awoken, the drinks and food she was carrying dropped to the floor as she ran over to wrap her arms around him. "You're awake, oh thank god." tears flowed freely from her face onto the covers over Izuku's body.

"Mom?" Izuku questioned, tears starting in his own eyes as the memories of what had occured hit him like a freight train. He wrapped his arms around her as well practically clinging to her as if letting go would cause him to drift away.

For a time they simply held each other, but eventually Inko managed to pull herself away and turned to Toga. "Thank you for staying with him, I'm sure seeing you when he woke up is just what he needed after the awful experience you two went through." she reached over Izuku and put her hand lovingly on Toga's head.

"You don't have to worry Ms. Midoriya, I couldn't leave my best friend to wake up all alone after everything else." Toga's eyes went to the spilled food and drink with a frown. "I think we should probably get someone to clean that up."

Inko frowned and turned back to Izuku before sighing. "Right I wasn't quite thinking, I'll go get one of the doctors, they will probably want to see that Izuku has woken up." she hurried out the door after one last look at Izuku.

Toga smiled as she left and looked toward the young man. "So then, ready for the first day in forever, my priest?"

All Izuku could do was look at her, trying to wrap his head around what had happened. And already he could tell this was going to be the start of something beyond his expectations.


	2. The Strange Case of Izuku Midoriya

**From the day I first met him the one thing Izuku lacked was confidence, for good reason but for quite some time it was a fatal flaw in an otherwise perfect priest. It would take time and effort before he was able to properly produce the results I first expected, but as an investment he never stopped growing.**

* * *

Izuku looked at Toga for a moment with a complete lack of understanding of what was going on. But given that he had seen more then one crazy thing since he had been kidnapped. "What do you mean priest?" it was probably the most pressing question he could think of, after all his mind couldn't process the various murders and carnage he had seen earlier without breaking down. So he went with the age old defense mechanism of pretending to ignore the situation until the dam broke.

"Well it might not have been directly your fault that my last priest turned out to be a wash you still called out and accepted my offer to grant your wish," Toga struck a cute pose and offered Izuku a smile. "It is still your responsibility to hold up your end of the bargain. Getting combined with this cute girl and a little rewriting of reality are just small benefits pulled from that little sham of a ritual that benefit both of us."

Izuku couldn't tell if that was a lot of information, or little enough that it barely explained anything, and beyond that it seemed like without more direct questions he probably wouldn't get any actual answers. "What does being your priest mean?" he asked carefully.

"Oh nothing complicated, honestly so long as you don't try to sacrifice a bunch of innocent people in my name and amuse me I'm willing to offer you the secrets of the Gate without any other strings attached." Toga waved her fingers and a small ball of red energy appeared above her hand, floating about the room.

As Izuku's eyes followed the light he felt that pain in his head build, much like the time the old man had frozen both him and Toga in place. The pain must have been obvious, because Toga closed her hand into a fist and the light disappeared.

"Right, your squishy human brain is still having trouble with the concept of powers beyond the Gate. We'll have to work on it later Izu-kun. Oh happy face, your mom is coming back in." she wrapped her hands around his, Izuku's face turning a shade of crimson at such close contact with a girl. Even if said girl had slaughtered a group of cultists his social abilities were low enough that it didn't even enter his mind.

But before he could lose himself in any thoughts like that Inko came back into the room with a doctor. However Izuku's eyes went above the doctor, looking toward a small child-like creature with odd tendril-like wings and a purple complexion to its body. Tendrils protruded from the creatures stomach attaching themselves to the doctors back, a large mouth that took up the things entire face gnashing up and down as it followed the doctor like a balloon.

Before Izuku could react in panic the creature turned to him, and an intense feeling of dread ran over his whole body, as if to react to the creature would bring something terrible down upon him. However the being looked over Izuku and turned to Toga, a loud and gasping cry escaping its mouth. In the blink of an eye the creature pulled its tendrils out of the doctors back and disappeared into thin air.

The doctor stumbled for a moment and ran a hand over his back, a small smile coming over his face. "Finally got that knot in my back out," he let out a small sigh of relief and then turned his attention to the still gaping Izuku. "Sorry, lets begin your examination."

"R-right," Izuku decided to put the creature's odd appearance in the back of his mind and followed the doctor's instructions to be looked over.

"With your head injury we had expected for there to be some permanent damage, but your reactions are about what they should be, and there are no apparent signs of brain damage. It might not feel like it, but you are a very lucky young man." the doctor put his hand on Izuku's shoulder and offered a comforting smile. "We still want to keep you overnight for one more round of observation, but after that you should be fine to go home."

Inko did her best to contain the tears in her eyes as she bowed to the doctor. "Thank you so much for taking care of him."

The doctor simply shook his head. "Ah, there is the matter of the detective who wanted to interview your son, shall I let him in to get a statement?"

Inko turned to Izuku and Toga, looking over to the two. "Do you feel up to it?" the question was being aimed toward both of them, but her eyes laid firmly on Izuku.

"I think so," Izuku wasn't quite sure how much the detective would believe of what had happened to them, but didn't see how his story would get more believable down the road. He turned his head to Toga, who simply nodded in response.

The doctor turned around and left, leaving only a few scant moments until a man wearing a tan trench coat, holding a fedora in his hand and lowering his head. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me so soon, normally we would prefer to give you some time to rest but given the nature of the matter I hope you can forgive us for wanting to move a bit faster than normal."

"I understand, but…" before Izuku could finish Toga's voice rang out in his head.

_**Leave this to me Izu-kun** _

"Izu-kun's eyes were covered the entire time, and after those guys hit him in the head he wasn't really acting like himself," Toga spoke up quite confidently, a frustrated frown crossing her face. "I was really worried that he might have lost his memory like on a t.v. show afterward."

The detective pulled out a pen and notepad, flipping through a few pages. "Himiko Toga, right?" After a small nod from Toga he read a few lines. "You're a neighbor to the Midoriya's then?"

Inko shook her head. "No, she is almost like a second daughter to my husband and I after…" she looked toward Toga for a moment, who simply flashed a sad smile.

"A few years ago my parents got caught in a fire, I technically live with my Aunt and Uncle, but they have to go out of town for business all the time. But Ms. Midoriya has always been really nice to me."

A tiny smile crossed the otherwise dour face of the detective, making a few notes before turning to a blank sheet. "Maybe you can shed a little light on what happened then."

_**Make sure to listen carefully Izu-kun, everything past this point is the new truth.** _

"Normally me and Izu-kun walk home from school together, but I couldn't find him after class and we ended up leaving at different times," she took Izuku's hand in her own and gave a worried glance, but from his position Izuku could see she was having the time of her life spinning this story. "But since we end up on the same road anyway I only ended up being a little bit behind, but before I could catch up some weird people in masks and robes jumped out of the alleyway and knocked him out with a stick," tears welled up in her eyes. "I ran over and then they hit me too, after that we woke up tied to a stage with a bunch of other people."

The detective for his part was furiously writing in his notepad between giving a sympathetic glance to the two. Izuku didn't know on his part if he should be crying or laughing at how easily Toga was able to play the room.

"I thought we were done for when people started screaming, but then something amazing happened," Toga looked directly at Inko, a large grin on her face. "Izu-kun activated his quirk and saved us."

"What?!" The question was shouted by every occupant of the room at once, all eyes locked on Toga.

"But Izuku doesn't have a quirk, the doctor confirmed that years ago." naked confusion sat on Inko's face as she looked toward Toga. "Are you sure you are remembering right?"

"Yup," Toga turned to Izuku. "I was able to see a bit from the blindfold they had me in, the blood that was all over Izuku turned into this weird ball, and it exploded hard enough to break the chains we were in. I grabbed Izu-kun and ran until I found a police officer."

The detective looked over both of them carefully before letting out a small sigh and closing his notebook. "I see, thank you for sharing that," he lowered his body in a proper bow toward other occupants of the room. "We of the police want to offer our most sincere apologies for everything that happened today. If you remember anything else, even the smallest detail has my card," he offered it to Inko and put his fedora back on his head.

"Thank you so much for everything Detective Tsukauchi," Inko returned the bow and the detective made his way out, walking over toward Toga and Izuku with tears in her eyes. "What you said was true, Izuku has a quirk?"

Toga nodded in response. "Yup, I bet it might be difficult for him but Izu-kun has a super awesome quirk!"

All Inko could do in response was wrap the two of them in a hug and cry. Toga returned it with a smile.

And as for Izuku?

For not the first time he wondered just what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

After another hour Inko and Toga had left the room, leaving Izuku alone with his thoughts for the first time since the incident, still trying to figure out how the last few hours had managed to turn his life upside down. He had seen at least twenty people die, some of which had been killed by a girl he had never met before but now his own mother swore that he had known for years.

It was a miracle he wasn't panicking, that he was able to think through the blood and terror so logically and examine his own mind. There were no memories of Toga in his mind, and the real events of the kidnapping were fresh in his mind. Nothing made any sense.

Before he could fall any deeper down that rabbit hole the door opened again as Toga skipped into the lavish hospital room with a plastic bag filled with snacks. "Your mom had to head back to work, but I got us some snacks to enjoy," she sat by his bed on a chair, putting her feet up on his hospital bed and opening a candy bar to bite into. "Man humans aren't good for much, but you guys make the best candy." Toga's cheeks were bright red in total pleasure from the treat.

It was such a shockingly normal scene that Izuku just began to laugh, quite hard in fact. Of all the strange things he had seen somehow the girl who had slaughtered a room full of adults with a single move enjoying a candy bar as if it were something utterly amazing was the oddest of all.

"Hey, no laughing at the goddess, it's a rule," she stuck her tongue out and took a smaller bite of the chocolate, offering the bar to Izuku. "Want some?"

Izuku waved his hand and got his breathing under control, looking at Toga for a moment. "So you are a god?" it seemed the most prudent place to start. As he still wasn't in the middle of a downward spiral of panic it would be best to understand what was going on.

"Yes, also a bit no," Toga put her snack aside and drummed her fingers on the skirt she wore. "Compared to humans I guess you could say I'm a deity, but there are things much bigger and scarier than me more worthy of that title. It's all about perspective."

While a terrifying thing to hear Izuku found it a bit fascinating, someone who had displayed such power could still talk normally like this, even discounting how strong she must be by comparing herself to other things. "What about the girl is she?"

Toga put a hand to her chest and smiled. "She died, but before her soul escaped to the dreams I caught it as I came down a few layers of reality. The person who I am now is a combination of Himiko Toga and the 'goddess' that the cult worshiped. Somewhere between the two of those beings is the amazing and cute me."

So in some form she managed to survive, that was what Izuku wanted to think but it sounded quite a bit more complicated than that. "So what now?" he asked, looking at her. Deals with gods and demons always came with some sort of catch.

"Well we made a contract, so long as you keep your end of the bargain I'll just hang around here as your cool sis Toga the goddess until I've finished holding up my end." Toga fished into the bag and pulled out some chips, popping the bag open and eating them as if they would disappear under her fingers.

Izuku thought back, figuring that the contract probably had to do with his wish. At the moment he saw Toga was killed he wanted nothing more than the power to save her, to have prevented the tragedy that had occured. "My Quirk?"

"Yup," Toga licked each of her fingers and brushed the rest of the crumbs on his bed without a thought. "Well also no, I can't give you anything like that, it's outside of my range of abilities." before disappointment could set in on Izuku's face she raised a finger, shaking it from side to side. "No sad faces now, I'm going to give you something stronger than a genetic mutation." she raised her hand, the skin melting away to reveal crimson blood in the shape of her hand. The blood from her 'hand' rose up, taking the form of a book before solidifying into an odd brown colored tome covered in tight chains. "This is...well its actual name might hurt so well keep it simple and call it 'Blood Tome'." she offered the book to him as the blood was slowly covered again by skin and nails.

Izuku reached out and took the book from her offering hand, a strange thrill running through his body. "How do I open it?"

Toga laughed and shook her head. "You can't, reading it would make you go insane instantly. It's a hundred times more potent than the Necronimicon, and most humans can't even take a watered down and simplified version of celestial mechanics without attracting the attention of one of the sleepers."

Izuku held the book away from him as if it would light itself on fire, shooting Toga a panicked look.

"Oh don't worry so much, harming you is the last thing I want to do considering that would violate our contract. Just owning the book will be enough to allow me to teach you some of the basic stuff. Blood rituals, binding and summoning, and of course some limited control over the fabric of reality." Toga lifted the chocolate bar she had been eating, and the world around it began to shimmer. The moment that shimmer vanished the chocolate bar had returned to an uneaten state.

Izuku felt thrill and fear in equal measure as he watched her casually alter the world. "Is that what you did when you made my Mom think you had lived next to us?"

Toga gave a small nod. "Points for my head priest being aware of the world! Of course that isn't the kind of thing I can pull off all the time, inserting myself into the world any further would result in my own immediate bubble collapse, and seeing as I am all swirled together with a human soul that would end up being a bad time for me. And her. And you probably."

Just that one sentence gave Izuku a hundred more questions, but he figured it would all come in due time. That and he was a bit more interested in the possibility of finally having a power of his own. "How do I get the power then, if I can't read it?"

"I'll have to teach you step by step. Thankfully we have some room for error and testing, if you got stuck with a contract through another deity and tried to figure it out then you might have to end up sacrificing someone every time you wanted to recharge," she gave a fake shiver and laughed. "I might be a deity of blood and chaos, but my favorite domain is my third and most important one, justice. So long as you use your powers for good and stop a bunch of bad guys I'll get a bunch of power."

Izuku couldn't help but think that the first two had nothing to do with the third domain, but he decided to keep that thought locked in his heart rather than risk offending her. "So then," he looked at the odd book in his hands. "What do I do with this?"

Toga stood up and put her hand on it, looking Izuku in the eyes. "Oh, just this." she pulled it out of his hands and rammed it into his chest hard enough to split skin and shatter bones.

The last thing Izuku saw of the world was Toga's smile as her face was covered in his blood.

* * *

When Izuku next opened his eyes he found himself in an odd landscape, mountains as far as the eye could see, including in the sky above them, the peaks of the mountains he stood on occasionally crashed with those above, spilling debris down upon the ground or floating up to the sky. The sight of such an alien landscape had Izuku too distracted to the point he didn't remember that by all rights he should be dead.

His hand flew to his chest, but thankfully for him there was no book sized hole in his chest, nor a wound that would cause his organs to spill out.

"Sorry, sort of like getting a shot, I figured you would want to not see it coming so it would be a bit easier," Toga appeared a few feet away, stretching herself out. "Your body is perfectly fine back in real space, after I was done it was as simple as stitching everything back together. You won't even have a scar," she blew on her fingers and looked at Izuku as if she was expecting some kind of praise from him.

Seeing as ignoring the obvious motions by someone who had 'killed' him without a blink of the eye just a few moments ago seemed like a bad idea, Izuku gave a nervous half smile. "Y-yeah good job."

Seemingly satisfied with his praise Toga waved her arms around. "Welcome to my little spot in the Dreamlands, a little carved out land where no one can come unless I allow them. And since you have an all access pass whenever you sleep your soul will wander here so we can train."

More questions for the pile, but Izuku focused on the important part of the announcement for him. "Train?" there wasn't any equipment around, unless she intended for him to break rocks with his fists like in the old movies.

"Yes, it's been awhile but I remember the basics of how to train someone, and thanks to 'my' memories it's even less of an issue." one of her fingers converted to a blood tendril, flying out and marking the ground between herself and Izuku with ten lines. "From where you are, come over and put a hand on me. If you can do that the book inside of you should accept you as a worthy vessel for its power. But to be fair I won't move any part of my body except for these," she wiggled her fingers cutely.

The test seemed too easy for Izuku, even someone utterly unathletic could close the distance between the two of them in less than a minute. Still he wasn't about to argue the case, despite all of her oddness Toga hadn't lied to him yet.

So with a deep breath he prepared himself and sprinted forward past the first line. But before he could take his first step toward the second line Toga's left pinky transformed into a blood tendril, firing toward him in a straight line. For his part Izuku tried to slow down, but with his speed and relative lack of proper experience there was nothing he could do except watch as the tendrils spear-like end flew between his eyes and pierced his brain.

There was nothing but darkness for a second along with an intense and sudden pain that held him in place. The tendril pulled back and his body fell lifeless as a doll to the ground as death overtook him.

But the moment the last of his mind faded he appeared right at the start of the line again, not even a hint as to his death just a few moments ago anywhere to be seen. Terror pulled Izuku's legs out from under him, and he fell to the ground on his knees and vomited from the memory of his own death.

"Silly Izu-kun," Toga snapped and the vomit disappeared from the world. "I told you, in this world I can do whatever I want, so even if I drained every drop of blood from you and burned your body I could just bring you back again and again." an odd flush overtook the girls face, a smile of equal disquieting nature pulling over her lips. "You can quit if you want, I'm sure you must be scared."

Izuku was simply silent for a moment, but soon slowly rose to his feet and glanced at Toga. "No." he rubbed his eyes and set them in a determined glance. The world had never been fair to Izuku Midoriya before, others were blessed by fortune and genetics, gifted with miraculous powers.

Suffering to gain something he wanted was something he could accept. He would be a hero.

With a yell born from the bottom of his soul Izuku ran forward again, his head low as he picked up speed over the first line. And in response Toga's bloody tendril flew forth to strike at his head.

But this time Izuku pulled his body up into a proper running position, and instead of ramming into his head the spear pierced into his stomach. The pain was intense, equal at least to a gunshot but rather than cry out Izuku smiled as blood pooled in his mouth, moving over the second line, pushing his body on the crimson spear.

Toga for her part seemed shocked for the briefest moment, but laughed as she turned another finger to a bloody spear and sent it directly at Izuku's head. Given the pain he was in there was no chance of dodging it, and his feet never got close to the third line drawn.

Much the same as before Izuku appeared before the first line, breathing in deeply as the feeling of death passed him. Except this time he offered a smile that was all teeth toward Toga. "Eight more."

"I'll wait for you, Izu-kun." she spoke his name sweetly before converting all of her fingers to bloody spears, waiting for him to make his next move.

The average human slept for eight hours, and she planned to milk everyone for their time together. There were only a handful of humans that had managed to cross a line on their first night, most too terrified by death to throw themselves at her without resting.

And that was the trick to it, the reason Izuku wasn't frozen by all of the horror he had seen, someone whose life didn't hold value to them would be willing to give it for anything.

"You are going to either be amazing or insane by the time we are done," she whispered those words to herself as Izuku prepared for his next charge. "I'm so happy I get to find out which one you will end up as."

* * *

A tall man in a black jacket with its hood up and a small girl in a blue dress stood before a run down building that had its every door and window covered by police tape. Just earlier that day the entire building had been scoured by officers recording every detail and bloodstain. And before that the building had been host to the ritual that had summoned a goddess into the world.

"Well?" the man rasped from under his hood, sounding more annoyed than anything else. "Was it a success?"

The woman hummed to herself, biting down on her finger for a moment before answering. "It's hard to say, I get the feeling that the ritual worked but I can't smell her here." she laced her fingers together and rested her chin upon them. "This isn't the easy task that mother promised when your father created the deal with her. But I can't complain too much. The chase is half the fun, isn't it Tomura?"

Crimson eyes glared from under the hood, but no answer was given. "Master isn't likely to be pleased, it took quite a bit of effort to set these idiots up."

"If the ritual was a success she is within this plane in some shape or form, that long dreaming bitch is too obsessed with humans to simply bubble collapse back to the dreamscape." the woman's voice pitched in tone, and her beautiful appearance shifted for a moment to something much darker, pale skin cracking beneath as whispers danced in the wind. "And once I find her, I'll devour her and give your masters just what I promised. As a daughter of the Black Goat it's important that I don't give a bad name to us."

The man simply shook his head and turned around. "Just get rid of the evidence and let's head back, I ended up pausing my game for nothing."

The woman simply pouted at her declaration being ignored, but her form shifted back to an ethereally beautiful state, even if any distinct feature was more difficult to pin down. "No fun," she opened her mouth and closed it quickly before turning around to follow after the man, a small skip in her step.

The next day when the officers returned, they would find the building missing, seemingly vanishing upon the foundation without a trace.


End file.
